


Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

by welcometocabeswater



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Animal Magnetism, Bunnies, Cute Animals, Drabble, Fluff, Multi, Ronan jealous of silly things, animal cuddles, blink and you'll miss it Pynch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 15:23:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5210885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welcometocabeswater/pseuds/welcometocabeswater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noah finds a baby bunny in the middle of Cabeswater. They take it back to Monmouth, where it takes a liking to someone in particular...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

**Author's Note:**

> All respect to Maggie Stiefvater, who owns these characters. I'm simply borrowing them for much needed pet-therapy. <3
> 
> The title goes to Florence + the Machine for her song of the same name. :)

They find it in the middle of winter- Cabeswater’s winter, to be precise. Ordinarily, the animal life Cabeswater offers are already well-adapted to the unusual ecosystem the forest provides. But this tiny creature is a cast off, an orphan of whatever season it belongs to, fallen by the wayside in migration to a warmer climate.

It’s Noah who finds it, coaxing it out from beneath the brambles of a bush: a little white rabbit, shivering from the cold. None of them would have seen it against the stark backdrop of Cabeswater’s unexpected snowfall if Noah weren’t so keenly attuned to its quickened heartbeat. He holds it in his arms, cradled like a baby all the way back to Monmouth, where they will inevitably decide what to do with it.

The rabbit’s ears twitch as it gets passed around, from one gentle set of hands to another, to another, until every one of the group has held it close to their chest, heartbeat to heartbeat, safe and sound. When the furry little thing passes to Ronan, squirming wildly after all the overwhelming handling, he sprawls out on the floor instead, laying the bunny down at his head. He scoots on his belly, an inch closer, so his ear presses gentle against its side, and he can feel the naturally frantic _patterpatterpatterpatterpatter_ of its heart.

When the rabbit’s had enough, Ronan rights himself to a seated position. All five of them form a circle around the docile creature, leaving wide gaps between knees so it doesn’t feel quite so trapped.

Blue’s already insisted they name it Lewis Carroll (regardless of if it’s male or female) and she coos at it now, arms outstretched into the circle with coaxing fingers that tap against the floor. Lewis Carroll is not interested in Blue, however, and all five of them watch, rapt, as it hops directly into Adam’s waiting lap.

He glances up at all of them, stunned speechless at the incomparable moment. Maybe it hears Cabeswater in him, and sees him as home. Its tiny pink nose twitches as his hand comes down to stroke the fluffy cotton ball soft fur of its back and it settles, content.

Blue’s mouth falls, not into a frown, but into a neutral status of disappointment that it didn’t choose her, evened out by awe that it chose Adam, of all of them. Lewis Carroll’s eyes close and the quick rabbit heart patter steadies to whatever equates to serenity in bunny terms.

Gansey’s serene next to him, a whispered  _of course_  repeated against his lips.  _Of course_  it would choose Adam. Who better?

Noah’s niggly fingers stroke along the fine, rounded ridge of its nose from Adam’s other side. And Ronan… Ronan sits agog across from Adam, mouth left wide open, unattended, one hand frozen in place where he had previously been stroking Chainsaw’s beak at his shoulder.

Chainsaw’s wings flap furiously in discomfiture, clearly stirred by the scene in a way Ronan can’t and won’t put words to. She takes flight, doesn’t go far, rearranging herself, alighting on Adam’s head. Adam’s eyes glance upward at this new development while Ronan busies himself with his wristbands between his teeth, face reddened down to the neck.

He likes Adam Parrish just fine. He likes small creatures better still. But both of them together, animal magnetism at its best, is too much. “God, Parrish. Get a fucking room!” is what he barks, but deep down, he knows full well, he’d drape himself over Adam too, coaxed over by nothing but the whisper of the trees and this raw, unfiltered  _want_.

Because Ronan Lynch is a creature too, longing for gentle hands to sooth his pounding heart back to normalcy.


End file.
